Not upheld: service failure / poor communication / online banking access complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs and Mr K complained that after HSBC suspended and reactivated their online banking access (due to security verification failures), their regular monthly international payment no longer appeared in the future payments facility, though the payment continued to be made. They spent considerable time contacting HSBC seeking explanation and resolution, experiencing protracted and at times broken communication. HSBC identified this as a known technical issue, provided guidance on how to reset the payment, and offered £100 compensation for poor communication. The ombudsman found HSBC acted fairly and reasonably, determining the £100 compensation was appropriate for the non-financial loss and that no financial loss had occurred.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while HSBC's communication was protracted and broke down at times, causing frustration, HSBC ultimately provided clear guidance on how to resolve the issue and acknowledged the communication shortfalls by paying £100 compensation. The ombudsman determined that Mrs and Mr K suffered no financial loss as the payments continued to be made despite not appearing in the future payments facility. The £100 compensation was assessed as fair and reasonable for the non-financial loss (inconvenience and upset) in line with FOS guidelines and comparable cases. The debit and re-credit of the compensation was treated as a genuine error sufficiently remedied by the re-credit and apology.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website